I'm taking a break from the two dimensional world of Japanese prints today and posting about the three dimensional, sharing my love for Japanese figural ceramics. It all started about three and a half years ago, when I moved from dealing in Japanese woodblock prints to selling Chinese ceramics. A large lot in an American auction caught my eye, because of a pair of Chinese porcelain figures, and without paying any attention to what else was in it I placed my absentee bid. When my shipment arrived from the States, the first thing to be unwrapped was a glorious Kutani figure... a figural candle holder with a beautiful orange kimono. I fell in love with her and have been collecting Japanese figures ever since (I actually gave up selling ceramics in 2006).
For me, these bijin are a three dimensional representation of those we see in Japanese woodblock prints... a fair few of mine look as though they jumped directly off the page, such as a figure of a dancer with tall hat that is the spitting image of one depicted by Utamaro in one of his Niwaka series. Anyway, the main reason for deciding to post about these figures today was the arrival of the latest addition to my collection (see photo above). She has an old repair to the neck, but other than that she's in great condition for a lady who's been around since the 18th century.
On the left is another favourite lady from my collection... the first Satsuma figure to join us, bought in Paris a year or so ago. The painting of her hairline is so delicate, and that of the decoration on her obi is just exquisite. She's holding a hagoita (battledore) that's decorated with a bust portrait of a woman. Aside from a little wear to the enamel at the bottom of her dress, she's absolutely perfect.
The most difficult part about collecting Japanese figures (apart from actually finding them in the first place) is finding ones that haven't had their heads of hands knocked off. Aside from the Imari figure above and a pair of beautiful Kutani ladies that I bought a couple of years back, every figure in my collection has avoided having her head taken off.
The lady to the right here, dressed in a simple black (fading into pale grey) and red kimono with a touch of gold, holding a folding fan to her mouth and with long sleeves swaying in the wind, was one of my first acquisitions. I think she's rather dynamic and looks as though she's been caught in the moment whilst performing a dance... I half expect her to begin dancing again at any moment. She's a later figure than the Satsuma one above, which dates from the nineteenth century, and dates from around 1910-20.
One of the things which helps us to distinguish between Kutani figures produced during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and ones which were made later is the type of gilding used. With pre-1930 figures, the gold paint has a soft sheen to it, and it actually looks like it's been painted onto the figure, but with post-1930 figures the gold is very shiny indeed, very reflective and much like the gilding we find on modern ceramics; the surface is actually reflective. All of the figures shown here date from before 1930.
Most of the figures that come up for sale are around the nine to twelve inch mark, but you can get ones which are considerably larger. At the moment, the largest in my collection is the beauty to the right... she is also my favourite. She stands nineteen inches tall and is in absolutely perfect condition. Astonishingly, even her delicate fingers have remained intact. The painting of her obi is remarkable, as is the modelling and painting of her facial features, as you will be able to see from the close-up below.
Her black kimono is decorated with cranes, some paddling in a stream amid long grasses and some in flight amongst the clouds.
The very last photograph I'm including here is not of a female figure... it's an incredibly cute tiger that I couldn't resist. After collecting only female figures, I diversified and began looking for animals... predominantly rats of course. And if anyone out there has a Satsuma or Kutani rat that they'd like to sell, please do get in touch (my email address can be found on the 'Contact' page).
As I mentioned above, it's not all that easy to find these figures to begin with. Finding them without damage is even more difficult. The odd bit of enamel wear is pretty standard and makes little difference to the beauty of a piece, but serious damage, such as a bad repair to a detached head, can ruin one completely. The impact on price is quite dramatic also, with a figure that might cost around £200 in good condition being worth little more than £20 if damaged.
The only book on the market at present that deals with these figures is 'Figural Japanese Export Ceramics' by Nancy Schiffer. The text is full of errors and the price guidelines aren't even close to realistic, so in that respect the book is completely unreliable, but the photographs will give you a good idea of the sort of figures that were produced.
